How will African farmers cope with climate change and become more resilient? How will they ensure food security? Collaboration by various stakeholders including governments, NGOs and research bodies is needed now to rapidly scale-up the African agricultural sector to improve food security and resilience to climate change,” says Estherine Fotabong, NEPAD Programmes Director, … [Read more...]
Aid donors’ investment deal causing hardship for Tanzanian farmers
Millions of pounds of UK aid money have been invested in a project in Tanzania which is destroying the livelihoods of smallholder farmers, driving them into debt and impacting the local environment. This according to a new report by The Oakland Institute released in collaboration with Greenpeace Africa and Global Justice Now. The company Agrica has received millions in … [Read more...]
GM maize transgenes penetrate small farmers’ seed supplies
A first study of its kind has found that GM maize transgenes have penetrated the informal seed supplies of smallholder farmers in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. The study screened for transgenes in external fields, home gardens and local household seed holdings in a village where GM insect-resistant maize had been previously grown from 2001–2008 and also analysed the seed … [Read more...]
Small farmers’ loss of land increases world hunger
The world is increasingly hungry because small farmers are losing access to farmland. Small farmers produce most of the world's food but are now squeezed onto less than 25 percent of the world's farmland, a new report reveals. Corporate and commercial farms, big biofuel operations and land speculators are pushing millions off their land. "Small farmers are losing land at … [Read more...]
